


Cabin Fever

by bigirlgiggles



Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: Affection, Fluff, Holidays, Tickle fic, Tickling, cabin fever, charlie/meeks/todd/neil, gingerbread cookies, tickle fight'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 15:18:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17164367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigirlgiggles/pseuds/bigirlgiggles
Summary: holiday energy and end of term nerves can only be cured by sugar (according to charlie dalton)





	Cabin Fever

**Author's Note:**

> this is a collab with my friend captain! enjoy! happy holidays!!

“Hon, is it racist if I make you gingerbread men?” Between the fat flakes of snow falling outside and the steaming mug of coffee in his hand and the fact he was wearing one of Meeks’ sweaters, albeit much too small, Charlie looked disgustingly domestic.

“Racist, no. Cannibalism…maybe.” Meeks hardly looked up from his laptop, refreshing Blackboard for the third time that minute. If he really wanted to care he could check his email inbox from the dozens of undergrad students probably clamoring for even more extensions despite the snow day, but really all he cared about was the last exam grade. And the quiz two days from then. And the finals. Not to mention the grading for the poor freshmen he still had to complete before break.. His nerves felt tighter than Charlie’s fit in his sweater.

The ruckus in the kitchen from said sweater-stealer-boyfriend was also not helping. Yes, one of his boyfriends was trying his best to get him into the holiday spirit through baked goods but the clanging of pots and pans and whirr of the mixer seemed magnified by Meeks’ nerves, making him tense up even tighter curled up tightly on the couch, laptop balanced on his knees, knuckles nearly white from the suspense of not having a grade yet.

Neil, thankfully, had occupied himself in the bedroom to immerse himself in a new role for a play, and was not around to encourage Charlie’s noise. Todd found himself busy with writing his new article for the literary magazine that picked him up and wasn’t able to chat Meeks down the way he normally would. So it was just Meeks on the couch, and Charlie and the kitchen and the one-sided banter between them.

“I’ll make one that looks like you with wrinkles on his forehead because he’s all stressed.”

Meeks chewed on the end of his pen, staring hard at the stagnant screen in front of him. He’d get the results, but then what? The days were getting closer and closer to break but all it did was give him even more of a frantic to-do list. Charlie banging around in the kitchen and the wailing of the wind outside did little to calm his nerves.

“Do I smell pumpkin?” Neil finally emerged from the top of the stairs, hair hanging in his face as he gazed over the banister rail.

“Gingerbread, love. But close.” Charlie paused to lick the spoon, before nodding to himself and adding another shake of nutmeg.

Neil grinned at the news took the stairs two at a time, before taking in the storm clouds forming in the living room and frowning at the redhead on the couch.“What’s eating Meeks?”

“Nothing.” His flooded inbox failed to distract him and he felt his face grow hot as his boyfriends laid into him. He wondered if Todd would mind if he joined him upstairs. No. Todd paced incessantly when he has a work in progress, muttering under his breath until he found the perfect words. He looked like a lunatic when he was writing.

Meeks wondered if hibernating was an option.

“You’re fermenting, dear.”

“I’m not fermenting, ”He swatted Neil’s affectionate hair ruffle away. “I’m working.”

“And fermenting while doing so, ”Charlie confirmed, coming over to pop a small ball of dough into Neil’s mouth and smiling when his eyes widened in satisfaction. “You’ve always been a great multitasker. We got any cookie cutters?”

“In the bottom left cabinet. Uh….plastic bag. Behind the tin foil?”Meeks muttered, barely loud enough for them to hear.

There was quiet shuffling in the kitchen, followed by a low hissing and whirring, and Neil made his way over to the couch after a moment, two mugs in his hands and a can of whipped cream under his arm.

“Figured you could use a study buddy.”Neil placed the Santa Claus mug down next to Meeks’ laptop. “Or…a fermenting buddy.”

Meeks took a deep breath, letting it come out as a sigh. He didn’t want any more company than the noise coming from the kitchen. Charlie, heavy-footed as always, made his way up the steps with a mug in his hand presumably for their hermit boyfriend locked in the study.

“He’s gonna kill him.”He refreshed the page, jumping ever so slightly at the sound of Neil spurting whipped cream into his coffee.

“Maybe so.”Neil unwrapped one of the candy canes that Charlie insisted they put in the fruit bowl on the coffee table, plopping it into Meeks’ mug. “But it’ll get the door open.Maybe he’ll come downstairs and join us. Social interaction is good for the brain, isn’t it, Mr.Bandura?”

Meeks wanted to squirm. It felt wrong to even mention the name of someone so brilliant when he wasn’t even sure if he passed his exam.

As if reading his mind, Neil leaned over and rested his head on his shoulder, “They’re gonna know your name too, you know.” He said, softly leaning over to kiss his cheek. Meeks couldn’t fight back the smile.

“It’s your first semester, give yourself some grace.” Meeks couldn’t say he’s ever given himself any such thing, even in his early years of undergrad. He had never been so close to his goal but the incline seemed to get steeper and steeper the nearer he got to the top.

“And if I completely crash and burn?”

“I think you’re forgetting the time I tripped over the mic wire and fell into the orchestra pit last year.”

Meeks closed his eyes and let himself relax against Neil’s slim yet warm frame, breathing in his scent of coffee and ink and detergent.

A faint strain of laughter broke from upstairs. Neil’s lips curled in a smile.

“See, even Todd knows how to take a break.”

“Everyone laughs at Charlie. It’s probably because of my sweater he’s reclaiming as a crop-top.”

“I tried to bring him coffee earlier and he told me to piss off. Are you saying I’m not funny?” He lifted his head and stuck out his lip in a mock-pout, but Meeks could still see the mischief in his eyes.  
“No. You’re a- Neil!” Meeks scrunched up his shoulders as Neil mouthed his way down his neck, taking extra care to nip every freckle that crossed his path. He couldn’t fight off the giggles or the way his nerves had turned against him. His stress was turning to giddiness, shaking him to the point his laptop nearly slid to the floor and he had to shut the lid and put it away before Neil tickled him into trouble.

“I seem awfully funny now!”Meeks could feel him grinning against his skin, his thin fingers squeezing at his sides a few times before he backed off, rather just resting them there as Meeks’ giggles died down. “They’ll post the grades.”He assured him, nuzzling into his neck. “And you’ll get your B or, knowing you, probably an A, and this semester will be over and you and Todd can have a breather and we can all just relax for a minute, Right?”

Meeks jumped when he felt Neil’s fingers twitch on his sides. “I said, right?”

“R-right!”Meeks’ hand instinctively held onto Neils’, finding their place in his hair when his nibbles became firmer and less playful.

“You can’t distract him with love bites,” Charlie spoke from the top of the stairs, a cozy looking Todd standing beside him holding a mug between his hands. “I tried this morning. He kicked me off.”

“You hadn’t showered.”Meeks scrunched up his nose, looking at the two upsides down.

“Some find my manly musk to be attractive.”Charlie scoffed, pulling Todd under his arm and starting to walk down the stairs.

“Your manly musk smells like farts and morning b-breath.”Meeks stuttered slightly as Neil nibbled again, finally mustering up the strength and sense to gently push him off.

“It’s sexy.”Charlie rolled his eyes, bumping Todd’s hip with his so he would plop down on the couch next to Meeks.

“Hey.”With a small smile, Todd kissed his cheek. “Did they post-”

“Not yet.” And just like that, Meeks reopened his laptop and refreshed Blackboard yet again.

“You don’t have anything to worry about.”Charlie earned himself a glare, but continued anyway, “My boyfriends are the smartest people I know, and that’s including myself. We got mister Tony award winner right here, ”He squeezed Neil’s cheek and grinned when he leaned away, blushing. “Mister Pulitzer Prize winner right here!” He gave a squeeze to Todd’s side and dodged the accompanying swat, “and the most brilliant psychologist right here.”He planted a wet kiss on Meeks’ cheek and he wrinkled his nose.

“I swear being annoying is your love language,” Meeks said, rubbing his cheek and mock pouting.

“Don’t wipe off my kisses, first of all. And second of all, my love language is making you squirm, thank you.”

“As is mine.” Neil piped up, shooting Meeks a crooked smile before poking his side.

Even Todd, with his deadlines and revisions, couldn’t help grinning at the way Meeks squirmed from the single touch.

“None of us are going anywhere, we have to entertain ourselves somehow.” Before he could plan an escape, Neil hopped on his lap and started scribbling away at his belly and the others couldn’t help but join in. As if he wasn’t being picked on enough, he snorted a few seconds into their attack and knew it would only make them tease him more. Once he started, he couldn’t stop and his snorts punctuated his peals of laughter as his boyfriends giggled along with him.

“Wait…is something burning?” Meeks considered it a miracle, flopping over and gasping for breath as his boyfriends finally stopped their tickles.

“My cookies!”Charlie yelped, springing up from the couch and rushing into the kitchen. The other three followed, Neil wrinkling his nose at the scent but sitting at the counter anyway. “Are there any survivors?”

Charlie let out a dramatic sigh, letting the pan rest on the counter. “Survivors, yes. Not without damages.”

Meeks peered at the crumbling and singed cookies and rose his eyebrows. “Did you make frosting?”

Charlie nodded toward the bowl of white frosting. “Of course. Who am I? A lunatic?”

He rolled his eyes, picking up the oven mitt and setting the pan of gingerbread men down on the table. “Todd, grab plates. Neil, grab sprinkles and whatever else we have that we can decorate with. We’ll just decorate them.”

“We can see who can make the best one,” Neil suggested, dropping a few bottles of sprinkles and food coloring onto the table.

“We are going to eat them, right?”Todd asked, looking down at the pan before lifting the cookie with one leg broken off. “They’re perfectly okay cookies.”

“The best-looking one is the one that lives.” Meeks slowly lined his cookie with white frosting, drawing a small face. As he and Neil seemed to be concentrated on the actual decorating, mixing sprinkles and frosting and coloring carefully, Todd and Charlie had other plans. 

“That’s not how you do it! He looks like shit!”Charlie laughed, watching Todd apply more frosting to the nearly covered cookie, flooding the edges and turning the corners into a sticky mess.

“Don’t gender my gingerbread person!” Todd scoffed, flicking a bit of sprinkle at Charlie. “They’re still in the works of turning into a masterpiece.”

“If you want to play that game,” Charlie scooped up a bit of frosting on his finger, smearing it onto Todd’s cheek and up into his hair. “I’ll play it too.”

Todd huffed and flicked more sprinkles at Charlie, leaning down to decorate again.

“Fine.”Charlie grabbed for the powder sugar and Todd quickly abandoned his cookie.

“Charlie, don’t. That’ll get everywhere. You just cleaned.”Todd backed up along the table, stumbling into Neil. The slight bump caused Neil’s hand to jerk, smearing the frosting on his cookie.

“Oh, come on!”He dropped the plastic knife he had been using, frowning at Todd. “Just because your cookies went to shit doesn’t mean you have to ruin ours too.”

“Todd started it.”Charlie rubbed the powdered sugar between his hands, smirking to himself as he crept behind Meeks and placed his powdery white hands firmly over Meeks’ behind, sure to leave handprints.

“Wow, darling. You’re downstairs for five minutes and you’re already causing trouble.” Neil mussed his hair and his boyfriend swatted him away.

“So aggressive.” He pulled Todd close in a tight hug, pinning his arms to his sides so he could dig into his exposed belly, right below his rib cage where he knew he knew he was most ticklish. The blond thrashed in his grasp, trying everything short of biting off his own arm to escape before his own laughter overtook him and Neil was practically holding him upright.

“Not again!”Todd hiccuped as he giggled, trying to desperately pull away from Neil. He crumpled to the floor, trying to curl up against Neil. “Steven, help!”He pleaded for the redhead, laughter kicking up a notch as Charlie decided to join Neil in tickling the writer. Todd’s true laugh came from the bottom of his belly and could fill a room in seconds, almost startling in its volume and genuine happiness. On a cold, gray day like the one they were having, the sound was pure sunshine and warmed Meeks’ very being and all he wanted was to keep Todd smiling.

Maybe it was the cabin fever that kept their hands on each other, but Meeks couldn’t fight the urge to kneel down and join his three boyfriends, reaching over and squeezing at the softness where Charlie’s stomach was exposed from the too small sweater, finding himself laughing as the brunette leaned away. “Come on, two against Todd isn’t fair, you know that!”

Todd let out a noise of protest, quickly overtaken by giggles as he began to sneak little pokes at Neil’s hips when he could.

Grades forgotten, and the frosting hardened, the four of them laid in their pile of giggles and quickly snuck in kisses, leading to Meeks having even more snort fits and Todd getting the hiccups and Charlie deciding he was never stealing Meeks’ sweaters again.

Could they have spent the day being productive? Probably. But the moments of silliness and affection did them all more good than a finished to-do list ever would have.

Even if the cookies got burnt along the way.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at bigirlgiggles


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